She claimed that the $20,000 loan paid for her son's hospital bills, and said she wanted to thank him by urging others in need to e-mail him for loans.

On the same webpage, five others, in the exact same words, save for the names, said they were given loans of up to $100,000 by another lender 'without any stress'.

They, too, left an e-mail address and urged others to approach the lender for financial help.

The Sunday Times found these postings on a few online classified sites recently.

The postings were all made within the past year, with the latest put up this month.

They all operate along the same vein - a former 'borrower' claiming how hassle-free it is to get a loan, and leaving behind the lender's e-mail address.

The 'lenders' all had Singaporean-sounding names, but when contacted, they revealed that they were from finance companies based in countries such as Nigeria and Ghana.

They first sent generic e-mail replies, often in bad English, stating that they were private moneylenders 'approve and license' by the government.

They typically charge interest rates of between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of the total loan sum.

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.